Loving v. Virginia

[Riesstiu IV]

Originally posted by Monk


Just curious. What sort of form would that be here in 2008? I'm not amazingly surprised, but still getting a wee bit of a 'huh?' reaction similar to the one Thue had before.

Oh all sorts of forms. I assumed it is common for most nations. The two that come to mind right now are university application forms and job application forms.

Usually the ethnicity/racial choices is something along the lines of: Black/African American, White/Caucasian, Asian (usually meaning East Asian despite the broad term), Native American, and sometimes Pacific Islander and Mixed Race.

[Dinner]

BTW Little Black Sambo is a good restaurant in Santa Barbara. I guess it used to be a chain but the racist name put people off and now it's down to just the original location. Still, it's right on the beach and has a good breakfast menu.

[LordShiva]

Originally posted by Riesstiu IV
Usually the ethnicity/racial choices is something along the lines of: Black/African American, White/Caucasian, Asian (usually meaning East Asian despite the broad term), Native American, and sometimes Pacific Islander and Mixed Race.

I mark "Other" and put down "Indian"

[Deity Dude]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Do you folks honestly not know about the one-drop-rule? If you have "one drop" of non-white blood, you aren't white. Whole categories of people were made up, mulattoes (mules), quadroons, octoroons, etc. The product of a white and Indian is a mestizo. The product of a Black and Indian is a zambo. This is part of our cultural heritage.

That's kinda cool, actually. We're finally moving past that BS.

But have we?

1) If a half black half white is automatically consiered black I don't think we have moved past that. (Maybe in Africa he would be considered white, I don't know but that would be an interesting side note)

but the more important point is:

2) Why does anyone care. I have never heard that someone might be the first blonde president. Genitallia is still important though.

I know it is "easy" for me to say because I am not black, but I think the world would be better off if we just got past it. I honestly think most Americans, especially whites, hold this point of view. And as unfair as blacks were treated in the past, I don't know that the solution is to hold whites who had nothing to do with it AND ARE AGAINST IT accountable.

Even if you want to hold people accountable for the sins of their fathers, I'd say a good majority of whites still wouldn't fall into this category.

My ancestors on my mother's side were Italian immigrants. My grandfather hid on a boat and came to America at age 12. He immediately worked on the railroad for pennies a day. When he was 20 he met my grandmother who immigrated legally and at the age of 14 and they got married. Then he worked in auto plants before unions were around, again for pennies a day. He had 3 children, 2 survived to adulthood.

On my father's side my grandmother was American Indian (probably the only ones in America that got screwed more than the blacks). My grandfather was a poor German immigrant who moved to Colorado shortly after it became a state and worked a farm until it was foreclosed on during the depression. He had 9 children, 7 survived to adulthood.

My father and mother got married and had 3 children - I was the 3rd. We each got ONE pair of pants per year and TWO shirts per year when I was growing up. As the youngest if some of my older brothers pants or shirts fit, those counted as my ONE pair of pants or TWO shirts. That's how poor we were.

I've never brought this up before in this forum and I guess I did now for the sake of credibility. I could lead a bitter life and hate whites for destroying Native American society (even though I am 3/4 white), but I doubt anyone here is responsible. I could hate the English/Irish majority at the time that took advantage of a 12 year old Italain and made him work slave wages on the railroad, but I doubt anyone alive is responsible for it.

My only 2 points are

1) People are not responsible for things that they did not do, do not approve of and, most likely, their ancestors didn't do. I find it just as racist to blame a person because he is white for what other whites (and blacks) did 150+ years ago, as it is for someone to think or treat blacks as inferior because they are black. As one of the people I respect most said "Judge a man by the content of his character, not the color of his skin" That has to go both ways.

2) If people really want to get past racism, we have to stop harping on race. I know it sounds naive to say we should treat skin color the way we treat hair or eye color but the only reason we don't is because as adults we teach our children not to think that way. We tell them that it is naive. We poison them with our racist prejudices, even if we think our prejudices are just the opposite. ANYONE who thinks RACE should be a factor in ANY situation is a RACIST. But, just as some racism was popular in the 50's a new racism has become popular now. Once adults get past racism it won't even be an issue for the next generation. It won't even exist.

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Deity Dude
If people really want to get past racism, we have to stop harping on race. I know it sounds naive to say we should treat skin color the way we treat hair or eye color but the only reason we don't is because as adults we teach our children not to think that way. We tell them that it is naive. We poison them with our racist prejudices, even if we think our prejudices are just the opposite. ANYONE who thinks RACE should be a factor in ANY situation is a RACIST. But, just as some racism was popular in the 50's a new racism has become popular now. Once adults get past racism it won't even be an issue for the next generation. It won't even exist.

Race is much more than just skin color, and as a result there are cultural differences that correlate pretty strongly along racial lines. Anyone who pretends this isn't so, and won't continue to be so for a very long time, is most definitely naive. Everyone can see that there are important differences between the races, so prohibition on discussion of the topic just increases tensions. There needs to be more discussion of race, not less.

[Bosh]

Originally posted by Caligastia


Race is much more than just skin color, and as a result there are cultural differences that correlate pretty strongly along racial lines. Anyone who pretends this isn't so, and won't continue to be so for a very long time, is most definitely naive. Everyone can see that there are important differences between the races, so prohibition on discussion of the topic just increases tensions. There needs to be more discussion of race, not less.

C'um hoc ergo propter hoc